COUNCIL chiefs have reacted with fury and dismay after the Government told people to avoid travel in and out of North Tyneside due to the spread of the Indian Covid variant.

News broke on Monday evening that the borough was one of eight areas in England now subject to stricter travel guidance because of the fast-spreading virus strain’s presence.

But the advice was seemingly published quietly last Friday on the Government’s website with no official announcement – and local council and public health officials were not aware of it at all until media reports on Monday night.

Norma Redfearn, North Tyneside’s elected mayor, claimed the new travel advice was “disproportionate for North Tyneside”, which has not been as severely hit by the Indian variant as hotspots like Bolton.

She said: “We received no consultation or communication about this advice which has implications for people across North Tyneside and the wider region. It is essential the Government explain what this advice means in practice.

“We have enhanced testing and extra vaccination services in place and are working hard to keep infection rates down. This advice is disproportionate for North Tyneside.

“What matters most to me, is keeping the residents of North Tyneside safe and making sure they have the right information to make the right decisions.”

Monkseaton North councillor Joe Kirwin tweeted that the Government “clearly don’t care or know anything about us”, saying that residents in areas like Wallsend, Longbenton, Benton or Hazlerigg “just need to cross the road to the shop and they will have left North Tyneside”.

Coun John Paul-Stephenson, cabinet member for public health at neighbouring Newcastle City Council, branded the move “incompetence of the highest order”.

He wrote: “Idiotic. They are clueless. Lots of people in our area cross LA [local authority] boundaries for lots of reasons. Not talking to NT [North Tyneside] or neighbouring LAs is incompetence of the highest order.”

Coun Nick Cott, leader of Newcastle’s Lib Dem opposition, warned that the change in guidance raised serious concerns over how such travel restrictions could be practically enforced between Newcastle and North Tyneside when the two areas are so closely linked and there was “so little time to prepare”.

However, the new rules are just guidance for now rather than being legal lockdown requirements.

Gateshead Council leader Martin Gannon likened the situation to the confusion created when Boris Johnson first told people not to go to work the following day when the UK first went into lockdown more than a year ago.

He told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning that ministers’ failure to inform local leaders of the new guidance “demonstrates that they have learned absolutely nothing” in the intervening 14 months.

The advice on gov.uk states that people should try to “avoid travelling in and out of affected areas unless it is essential, for example for work (if you cannot work from home) or education” and try to avoid socialising indoors.

The guidance applies to North Tyneside, Bedford, Blackburn and Darwen, Bolton, Burnley, Kirklees, Leicester, and Hounslow.